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PAUL HINDEMITH

SYMPHONY IN B-FLAT FOR CONCERT BAND

I. INTRODUCTION

Composed in 1951, Paul Hindemith’s Symphony in B-flat for Concert Band has maintained its position as one of the most substantial works of its kind in wind band literature for fifty years. Hindemith preceded the Symphony in B-flat with two early works for wind instruments: Kleine Kammermusik (1922) for woodwind quintet and Konzertmusik,Op. 41 for military band (1926). In the solo concertos featuring wind and brass instruments, Kammermusiken nos. 2-7 (1924 – 1927), Hindemith embraced a dissonant contrapuntal technique reminiscent of J.S. Bach. Other Baroque characteristics of Hindemith’s compositional style evident in his early works included regular meters, rhythmic counterpoint, and formal structural design resemblances. Finally, Hindemith elevated wind and brass instruments to an equal role with the position of the strings in his Concerto for Orchestra composed in 1925. This concept in usage of wind and brass instruments demonstrated a drastically dissimilar function for these instruments from previously established conventional usage.

During the period between 1933 and 1941, Hindemith continued to compose music featuring wind and brass instruments. Sonatas for wind and brass instruments with piano accompaniment including flute, bassoon, oboe, horn, trumpet, clarinet, English horn, and trombone followed an unpublished Konzertstuck for two saxophones (1933). Hindemith’s preoccupation with theoretical concepts and tonal organization during this compositional period evolved to include Classical phrasing and structural design elements in these works.

Then, in 1950, the United States Army Band commissioned Hindemith to compose a march. The medium of wind band writing captivated Hindemith’s interest, and he appeared at the first rehearsal with the entire Symphony in B-flat rather than merely a march. Hindemith conducted the first performance with the United States Army Band in Washington D.C. on April 5, 1951.

The Symphony in B-flat synthesizes elements of Hindemith’s mature Neo-Baroque and Neo-Classical styles of composition. Some features of this synthesized style include: rhythmic counterpoint and cross rhythms, linear dissonant contrapuntal textures, and clear formal designs for each movement. Hindemith’s Symphony in B-flat contains technically and rhythmically difficult individual parts throughout the range of instruments orchestrated. A study of the individual parts reveals lines that explore the full ranges of each instrument, wide ranges of dynamic levels, varying articulation challenges, and solo passages as well as section and ensemble passages. Although tutti ensemble passages include many instruments, the individual parts require independent contrapuntal performance skills along with ensemble playing skills. For example, the cross-rhythms (duple division of the beat against a triple division of the beat) in the flute parts at the beginning of the first movement requires independent counting together with ensemble listening to correctly fit the two parts together. This type of contrapuntal writing continues throughout the entirety of the symphony and is found in varying degrees in different sections of the band. The high level of difficulty of the individual parts and the conducting challenges may account for the infrequency of performance of this mainstay in wind band literature.

II. Annotated Bibliographical Listing

Austin, William W. Music In The Twentieth Century: From Debussy through Stravinsky. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1966.

The book ranges from Debussy through Bartok, Stravinsky and Schoenberg. However, the author treats Webern, Hindemith and Prokofiev with individual chapters. Austin emphasizes the growth of different styles of musical composition surfacing during the 20th-Century. He introduces composer biographical information only with reference to its significance in the composition or to the compositional process during a particular period of a composer’s life. Analysis of music examples, demonstrative extended passages and entire works exhibit stylistic concepts. Chapter XXI deals exclusively with Paul Hindemith’s contributions to 20th-Century music. The author traces Hindemith’s developmental phases as a composer. Although there is no direct mention of the Symphony for Band in B-flat, discussion of Hindemith’s mature craftsmanship in composition is included. One of the primary values of this source is the relationship in which Austin places Hindemith with his contemporaries (such as Stravinsky and Schoenberg), including Hindemith’s influence on other composers, as well as Hindemith’s attacks of the works of other composers. The annotated bibliography imparts an excellent resource for further research. ML197A9

This is an extensive and authoritative biographical dictionary in the English language containing succinct biographies of musicians, composers and noteworthy musical figures. As such, the source can be used to verify the validity and authority of authors in the field of music. The brief entry about Paul Hindemith lists in chronological order some of the important events in Hindemith’s life. In addition, the article touches on some of the basic principles of Hindemith’s compositional styles, such as Gebrauchsmusik and Neo-Classicism. Strong points of this entry include the list of works that tells when and where they were first performed, the list of Hindemith’s theoretical writings, and a source for a thematic index verified by the composer.

Although I was unable to secure the original dissertation in its entirety, I found the abstract in the above-mentioned online database. According to the abstract, Section I of the dissertation briefly accentuates historical events shaping Hindemith’s style of composing for wind instruments. Further exploration into the historical background of the piece and documentation of the origin of the musical composition ensues. Part II contains an analysis of the harmony, rhythm, orchestration, formal design and thematic fabric of the work. Part III discusses rehearsal particular problems rehearsing and conducting the Symphony in B-flat.

I like the complete, readable format of this bibliography. It contains the composer’s name with dates of birth and death followed by the title of the symphony. Then, Bly supplies necessary information about the publisher. Further information about the works includes: the year the piece was published; the duration of the piece; the instrumentation necessary for performance of the piece; titles of movements. Bly also attempts to grade the level of difficulty of the symphonies; although no criteria for the grading system exists. Finally, any information on who commissioned the work and for what purpose is included along with any dedications of the work.

The collection of papers in the 1974 Jahrbuch is all in the German language, except one. The article by Boatwright on Hindemith’s performances of old music directly relates to Hindemith’s Neo-Baroque style of compositional technique, particularly the fugual movement in the Symphony in B-flat. In performing, conducting and coaching early music ensembles at Yale University with Collegium Musicum from 1940 - 1953, Hindemith studied early music through copying parts and scores for the performances. This article also contains a list of works performed at Yale with Collegium Musicum in chronological order and facsimile copies of Hindemith’s impeccable penmanship as evidenced by his manuscripts. ML410.H685 H56 1973

The short article discusses the history and development of bands including: early history, revolutionary period and early 19th-century bands, the mid-19th-century development of brass bands, the late 19th-century and early 20th century developments, professional bands and amateur bands, academic band movement, and the post war era. This article is severely lacking in that it contained neither a discussion of wind band literature nor any references to works about wind band literature.

This source reveals the setting and conditions that produced the character and compositional language of expressionism as revealed in art music by Twentieth-Century composers. The frontispiece of the book contains an interesting timeline graph of composers and their important works. Paul Hindemith occupies a large part of the graph, but no specific chapter is devoted to his music. The authors include Hindemith’s achievements and compositional techniques in relation to the music of other Twentieth-Century composers. No specific listing of the Symphony in B-Flat for Concert Band appears in the index. Detailed notes for examples, prints, personal letters and reprints of scores supply an appealing feature in the layout of this book. ML197C8 1993

Cummings, David M., ed. International Who’s Who in Music and Musicians’ Directory. Cambridge: Melrose Press Limited, 1992.

A helpful source in establishing the authority of authors, the book contains comprehensive biographical information on internationally renowned living classical composers, conductors, performing artists, musicologists, music critics, music educators and publishers.

Diamond, Harold J. Music Analyses: An Annotated Guide to the Literature. New York: Schirmer Books, 1991.

An annotated guide to published analyses of various musical compositions. As a guide to more specific sources, it contained several sources of interest related to the Symphony in B-flat by Paul Hindemith. Entry 2144 cites author Ian Kemp’s critical and analytical summary of Hindemith’s music. Number 2148 refers to David Neumeyer’s, The Music of Paul Hindemith, which contains a more comprehensive analytical examination of Hindemith’s primary compositions. Citation number 2170 identifies an article written by Charles Gallagher in the Journal of Band Research containing a general analysis of all three movements of the Symphony in B-flat. Finally, entry 2182 mentions a dissertation, “An Analysis of Four American Symphonies for Band” by Thomas Clarence Ferguson. ML128.A7 D5 1991

This short article elucidates a definition of the term, pantonality. Rudolph Reti formulated the term describing the extension of the tonal language to include mutable key centers or tonal areas that avoids bitonality, polytonality and atonality. The definition clarifies to some extent Hindemith’s theoretical concepts regarding intervallic tonal relationships, and it mentions Bartok, Berg, Stravinsky, and Hindemith as composers who employed this type of tonal schemes. Uncharacteristic of Grove entries, there is no bibliography attached to this article.

Fennell, Frederick. Personal interview. 6 November 2001.

Dr. Frederick Fennell claims to have recorded the Symphony in B-flat for Concert Band by Paul Hindemith prior to the first recording conducted by the composer. A world-renowned conductor of wind bands, educator and clinician, Dr. Fennell thoroughly knows numerous scores of the major works for wind band. In addition, Dr. Fennell has recorded works for wind band with the Eastman Wind Ensemble (which he formed during his tenure at the Eastman School of Music), the Tokyo Kosai Wind Orchestra, and the Dallas Wind Symphony. According to Dr. Fennell, his early recording by the Eastman Wind Ensemble of Hindemith’s Symphony in B-flat remains an authoritative performance of the work. When compared to the musical score, he believes the subsequent German recording with Hindemith conducting contains a lot of mistakes.

Very well written and easily understandable descriptions of the primary matters of importance in the analysis of contemporary music including characteristics of Western tonal-structures, the theory of tonality based on triads, and structural hypotheses of contemporary music. Further detailed definitions of analytic procedure for the study of 20th-Century music focus on evaluating tones in a linear context, defining and interpreting structural events, analytic reductions, aural perceptions in analysis. Thorough analytic sketches of specific works of Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, Roger Sessions, Aaron Copland, Bela Bartok, Paul Hindemith, and Arnold Schoenberg follow these chapters. This is an invaluable source as a guide for further analysis, contrast and comparison of the Symphony in B-flat for band with other works of Hindemith or other composers. ML197F7

Gallagher’s article consists of a very short general analysis of the Symphony in B-flat that distinguishes different themes and the formal structure for each movement. The article is useful to gain a general understanding of the movements in the piece, however far more detailed and specific analytic discussion of this work is needed than is given in this article. Since the article was written in 1966, the topic warrants updating with a more scholarly analytical approach for possible publishing during the 50th- year anniversary of the piece.Per. ML1.J66

The entry on Paul Hindemith contains seven bibliographies. Some of the items listed offer numerous sources on biographical information about Hindemith, Hindemith’s theoretical writings and his music. The bibliographies are all in the German language, and are therefore not very useful to me at this point in my research. ML113.G793 1985

Haskell, Harry. The Early Music Revival: A History. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1988.

Contains a brief discussion of the definition of early music and attempts to place early music in the appropriate social, cultural and historical perspectives. In addition, there is interesting discussion of the link between discoveries of early music and the development of ethnomusicology. Paul Hindemith was particularly active in copying old manuscripts, creating parts, conducting the early music ensemble, CollegiumMusicum, at Yale University from 1940 - 1953, and thus incorporated the early music writing styles of composers such as J.S. Bach into his own compositional writing style.Chapter 4, entitled “Back to Bach” specifically addresses modern composers such as Stravinsky, Hindemith and Busoni rediscovering early music and creating the style of composition labeled “Neoclassicism” in music. Chapter 5, “Old Music In The New World” addresses Hindemith’s involvement with CollegiumMusicum at Yale University and the meticulous hand copying Hindemith prepared from old manuscripts. Finally, Chapter 9 contains a comparison of the similarities and differences between Theodor Adorno’s and Paul Hindemith’s concepts and philosophy of performing early music. All of this discussion directly relates to the Symphony in B-flat due to the proximity of his work with CollegiumMusicum to his writing of the Symphony in B-flat. Additionally, Hindemith’s meticulous performance markings in his musical scores bear relation to his concepts of historically correct performance practice. Finally, his study of early music directly influenced his Neo-Baroque and Neo-Classical styles of composition.

The entry for Paul Hindemith refers to the Samtliche Werke, im Auftrag der Hindemith –Stiftung. Hrsg. Von Kurt von Fischer und Ludwig Finscher published in Mainz, by B. Schott’s Sohne in 1975. Heyer’s specific entry for the Symphony in B-flat contains an error in that she fails to include the “flat” as part of the key in which the symphony is composed. Nevertheless, the index still tells in which volume the work can be easily found. ML113.H52 1980 vol. 1

Hindemith transcribed recordings of the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures he delivered at Harvard University in the winter of 1949-50 to form this book. This primary source has particular bearing on the Symphony in B-flat, because Hindemith wrote the lectures from which the book is derived very close to the same time frame in which he composed the work. Topics include: Hindemith’s philosophical approach to music, his concepts of perceiving music on intellectual and emotional levels, sources of musical inspiration, and more importantly, compositional technique and style. Hindemith’s own writing about compositional techniques leads the reader directly into his creative processes. ML3800.H55

---, A Concentrated Course in Traditional Harmony With Emphasis on Exercises and a Minimum of Rules. New York: Associated Music Publishers, Inc., 1943.

Paul Hindemith’s teachings on the principles governing rhythm, meter, intervals, scales, notation, clefs and their correct application toward the writing of music. Hindemith elaborates on his recommended exercises for students in the basic theoretical elements of music. As with his other theoretical writings, Hindemith includes a preface of his reasons for writing the book, how it can best be used, and his thoughts on current (contemporary with his writing) musical training. This preface contains interesting thoughts on the connection between music theoretical training and performance. The chapters are divided into three sections: “Action in Time,” “Action in Space,” and “Coordinated Action.” MT35.H6

Hindemith translated a speech delivered on September 12, 1950, at the Bach commemoration by the city of Hamburg, Germany, for this book. Hindemith studied the compositional works of J.S. Bach, and as such had tremendous respect for the creativity of these works. His speech traced the musical accomplishments of J.S. Bach and Bach’s art form. Also, Hindemith talked about Bach’s attitude toward writing music and the struggle against the adversities of his life and society at the time. ML410.B1 H672

Historians often associate Paul Hindemith with the German idea of writing music for common use by amateurs, educators, and home performers for enjoyment. The scope of this article encompasses Hindemith’s philosophy about music for the general public to play and enjoy along with a description of music he composed for the purpose of Gebrauchsmusik. Since Hindemith’s earliest compositions for wind instruments stem from the Gebrauchsmusik concept, this article directly relates to Hindemith’s growth as a composer of music for wind instruments. One draw back to this source is that the bibliography for the topic in mostly in German.

Kapetz directs his article toward suggestions for conducting and rehearsing the Symphony in B-flat. Short analytical comments furnish thematic, soloistic, rhythmic and contrapuntal problems in conducting and rehearsing the work. Drawing on his experience as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota, his writing presents a fresh angle on the analysis of the work not present in other sources.

The author approaches Paul Hindemith not purely from an historical perspective, but by interpretively placing Paul Hindemith within the historical context of the Nazi regime. According to Kater, Hindemith became known as an avant-garde composer in Germany, but by the end of the Republic, Hindemith’s works had progressed to a mature Neo-Baroque style. The political influences on Hindemith’s musical compositions and Hindemith’s relationship with other modernist composers, most notably Schoenberg, are also included. Finally, the author mentions Hindemith’s need to leave Germany and emigrate to the United States and his return to Germany after World War II. Kater also portrays Werner Egk, Kurt Weill, Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Carl Orff, Hans Pfitzner, Arnold Schoenberg, and Richard Strauss. This source exhibits an extremely interesting example of a study of the cultural, social and political influences on musicians and composers. ML390.K198 2000

Kemp, Ian. Hindemith. London: Oxford University Press, 1970.

Kemp discusses how Hindemith’s music fits into the concept of Neoclassicism in music and Hindemith’s connection with the music of J.S. Bach. Sections of the book highlight specific compositions and relative developments in Hindemith’s compositional style, including Gebrauchsmusik. Appropriate musical examples and descriptive footnotes elucidate Kemp’s writing. Unfortunately, Kemp fails to discuss the Symphony in B-flat and Hindemith’s other works for wind instruments. ML410.H685 K4

Contains a much shorter biography of Paul Hindemith and a brief discussion of Hindemith’s influence in America as a composer, teacher and director of CollegiumMusicum at Yale University. The selected list of works is brief and the bibliography is good, but short. ML101U6N48 1986

Kemp derives this article from his entry in the 1980 edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians on the same topic. As such, the article on Hindemith contains biographical information about Hindemith’s life, his musical studies, and his career in music. The author pays particular attention to Hindemith’s participation in various aspects of music, such as performing, conducting, teaching, coaching, composing, and writing about music. Kemp completes the entry with a discussion of the composer’s formal processes, stylistic growth, and the major works from each stylistic period of Hindemith’s life, including chromaticism, bitonality, Neo-Baroque style, Neo-Classical style. To finish, the author includes a comprehensive works list and an extensive, although somewhat dated, bibliography.

Messing, Scott. Neoclassicism in Music: From the Genesis of the Concept through the Schoenberg/Stravinsky Polemic. Ann Arbor: U.M.I. Research Press, 1988.

Scott Messing outlines a thorough background of the concept and practices of Neoclassicism as it evolved in France and Germany with noticeable concentration on the works of Wagner, Debussy, Stravinsky and Schoenberg. He supplies in-depth discussion about the breakdown of tonality, the adaptation of structural formulas from the Baroque Era, the manipulation of rhythmic devices to weave a cohesive thread into formal structure, and the changes in musical thought around the time of World War I. Arguments for and against various definitions of Neoclassicism (and the appropriateness of those definitions) ensue throughout the book. Hindemith’s Neo-Classic style is briefly mentioned through a discussion of Kammermusik No. I and Das Marienleben. ML3877.M48 1988

Neumeyer, David. The Music of Paul Hindemith. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986.

Four components of this book lend valuable model guidelines for other authors to follow in fashioning their own analytical writing styles: 1) Neumeyer creates an historical framework for Hindemith’s compositions prior to Mathis der Maler and music written while Hindemith lived in America between 1935-1950; 2) He produces a theoretical analysis with relevant musical examples of one of Hindemith’s major works, Mathis der Maler; 3) the author also analyzes Hindemith’s compositional theory from a primary source written by Hindemith, The Craft of Musical Composition; and 4) There is a chronological list of works and a strong bibliography. ML410.H685 N5 1986

This dictionary contains a concise biography of Paul Hindemith as a composer, theorist, violinist and conductor. A complete list of works by the composer is noticeably absent. However, the short bibliography contains some sources written in the English language not found elsewhere. ML105 H38 1996

This is the most comprehensive and authoritative dictionary entry on the life and works of Paul Hindemith in the English language. It includes a lengthy biographical history of Hindemith’s early life, musical studies, early compositions, and his professional life as a violinist and viola player. The article traces the huge quantity of works Hindemith produced during the 1920’s along with a discussion of the concept of Gebrauchsmusik and the Neo-Baroque characteristics of his compositional style. The article then elaborates on later developments in Hindemith’s compositional style with carefully chosen representative examples of his music. Further biographical information supports the stylistic analysis. The detailed works list arranged by categories of compositions and writings and the extensive bibliography form some of the most valuable features of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

Geoffrey Skelton’s lengthy and detailed biography of Paul Hindemith contains information about the composer’s life in Germany and America with photographs from different periods in Hindemith’s life and samples of his handwriting taken from sketchbooks and letters. The chapters on The Craft of Musical Composition and A Composer’s World: Horizons and Limitations and A Composer’s World: Horizons and Imitations contain particularly valuable information in reference to the Symphony in B-flat for insight into his compositional techniques and thought processes as a composer. Chapters chronologically follow Hindemith’s life, and an index contains a chronological list of works, and bibliography of sources about Hindemith. ML410.H685S6

This selection of letters translated by Mr. Skelton appears in chronological order and provides a biographical framework for Hindemith’s musical accomplishments as a composer, conductor, teacher, and performer. Some of the letters are particularly enlightening as to what was transpiring in Hindemith’s life when particular compositions were being composed, although this source has no specific references to the Symphony in B-flat. ML410.H685 A4 1995

Hindemith attempted to demonstrate music’s participation in natural laws, and Thomson offers criticism of Hindemith’s theoretical writings. In contrast, he defends Hindemith’s concepts of intervallic relationships (pantonality). The author believes that Hindemith’s assertion that the interval controls pitch structure exemplifies Hindemith’s most significant contribution to the field of music theory. Although this is not “easy” reading, the lengthy article also contains a good example of comparative theoretical writing. In addition, the strong bibliography provides excellent sources for the serious theoretical researcher.

The essay is part of a festschrift commemorating the seventieth birthday of Willi Apel. Willi Apel was a prolific, scholarly author in the field of music whose works include articles in The Journal of the American Musicological Society, the Harvard Dictionary of Music and many others. Tischler takes examples from Hindemith’s Ludus Tonalis (1942) to describe in detail Hindemith’s contrapuntal techniques and resulting harmonic structures. This source is obviously useful for doing further theoretical analysis of Hindemith’s works.

Whittall briefly introduces characteristics of the style of musical composition by some 20th-century composers labeled as Neo-Classicism in music. The author draws an interesting connection to the same stylistic characteristics in painting, art and architecture. In addition, he sculpts relationships between representative composers who chose the Neo-Classical style as a medium of musical expression. The source includes an excellent bibliography on the topic.

Whitwell. David. A New History of Wind Music. Evanston: The Instrumentalist Company, 1972.

This represents one of the few sources dedicated to the study of wind instrument literature. The entries are very short and general in nature. The basic format groups literature by country, then by composer. This source needs to be amplified with greater detail and more current entries. The chapter on Germany briefly mentions Paul Hindemith’s contributions to wind instrument literature, including the Symphony in B-flat.

III. Conclusion

In conclusion, my research on this topic revealed a comparative absence of scholarly research into wind band literature and the growth of the wind ensemble as a performance medium for serious composers. Very few of the sources I cited specifically discussed the Symphony in B-flat, and much of what I did find was very general in nature.

Paul Hindemith contributed a major symphonic work to the growth of wind band literature. Music for wind instruments preceding Paul Hindemith such as the Serenade No. 10 in B-flat Major, K. 361 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Overture for Wind Band by Felix Mendelssohn; the Symphony for Band by Hector Berlioz; Gustav Holst’s Suite in E-flat, Second Suite in F for Military Band and Hammersmith (1930); the Suite, Op. 4 and Serenade in E-flat, Op. 7 of Richard Strauss; and Wagner’s Trauersinfonie opened the door for serious art music compositions for wind instruments. Hindemith and his contemporaries including Vincent Persichetti, Morton Gould, Gordon Jacob, Arnold Schoenberg, and Igor Stravinsky created large works of music for various combinations of wind and brass instruments that deviated from the realm of military band music. However, it was Paul Hindemith that elevated the status of wind and brass instruments in the orchestra to an equal position with the strings and who perceived the genre of the wind band as a viable medium for expression of serious art music. According to Arnold Whittall, “With the possible exception of Stravinsky, no composer of comparable stature has invested so much of his music in the wind instrument as has Hindemith.”

Copyright by Melinda Jean Wilson 2013

Coming Soon: 20th Century Techniques in Sergi Prokofiev's Sonata in D-Major for Flute and Piano